Careers in cybersecurity and information technology (IT) require professional certifications along with academic degrees. The challenge most students are faced with is that some cybersecurity certifications require significant knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) and personal recommendations for years of industry experience. However, there are several great opportunities for students to obtain entry-level cybersecurity certifications that are well accepted by the industry as part of their academic degree program. Moreover, such cybersecurity certificates are required by thousands of cybersecurity entry-level jobs and can greatly help students even to finance their education immediately after completing such professional certifications.

This presentation will discuss the integration of such entry-level cybersecurity professional certification preparation as part of the virtual lab component that of Fundamental of Cybersecurity course at the graduate program that is mainly focused on career changers. The presentation will provide the background for the selection of the specific platform (LabSim) along with the experience our college had over the past two years in using it. Moreover, the discussions will cover some of the linking of the Fundamental Knowledge Units (KUs) to the course and the specific assignments to assess the relevant KU objectives.

The presentation will also include cases of the success stories of students who completed the course, went to pursue the professional cybersecurity certification (Security+), and the impressive impact it had on their cybersecurity career path. The presentation will conclude with an open discussion and Q&A session.